State House Roundup

Fill in the blank: "As the people closest to the day-to-day delivery of state services, ________ are uniquely positioned to assess and prioritize our capital project needs."

Gov. Deval Patrick and budget chief Leslie Kirwan answer: "the capital project managers at the state agencies." House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and budget chief Robert DeLeo answer: state legislators.

The statement comes from Kirwan's letter to lawmakers entreating the rank-and-file — and, some argued, antagonizing leadership — to shift the venue of a piece of the legislative process infused with politicking in cloakroom form. Remixing his invitation to recent audiences across the state about property tax relief, Patrick was asking the Legislature: You want earmarks? Come and get 'em.

Kirwan dangled the developing five-year capital budget at legislators, formally inviting them to help see local projects come to life. But her claim that state managers are best suited to measure capital needs is tough to reconcile for legislative leaders, who watched their colleagues rise to their feet applauding last week when DeLeo proclaimed: there is no one who knows your districts better than you do.

Of course, Kirwan's "capital project needs" are elsewhere called "pork." And budgetegery's rule one — or at least 1A, below "no margarita parties with mariachi bands during budget sessions," flagrantly violated by a few House members — is that he/she who controleth the pork ladle, controleth much else.

Sen. Mark Montigny, co-chairman of the committee that handles capital spending, responded, "No matter what A&F does with this letter, I promise you … we will maintain the power of our own domain to earmark and fight for and override any disagreement with the administration. It's just the way it is and that's what makes the place fun."

To which Patrick aides replied that the letter was of the "help us help you" variety, a response to legislators' requests. Patrick said the letter was written "out of respect" for lawmakers.

Also "fun" was a wonk's paradise of hearings. Where else can you get maple syrup, human trafficking, unemployment insurance and debates over the allegedly Machiavellian calculus behind exempting senior citizens from property taxes they can vote for but don't have to pay?

OK, the Internet for sure, but the mariachi jokes are better on the Hill. The hearings gave vent to predictable opinions from interest groups, but also elicited stances the administration hadn't announced before. New taxes and tolls under consideration to cover the daunting transportation deficit; modest not broader unemployment insurance reform; and, outside the hearing cycle, prison system and education funding fixes.

But while the hearings offered public spectacle, the hushed discord struck at fundamental disagreements about how things work. April 30, Patrick shifted his I've-gotta-learn-to-work-with-them tone.

"We're at a place now where the Legislature is having to learn again — and many individual legislators for the first time — what it means to work with an Executive Branch that's actually interested in governing and working with them and sharing the credit … Many are grasping it. I don't think that's the sort of thing that is grasped just by declaring that it ought to be."

Revenue slump portends mood slide

The revelation that the Big Dig could, wait for it, cost another $333 million capped a lousy week for people who wish the state fiscal health. Word of the new costs, reportedly from a variety of factors related to the mismanaged mega-project including tunnel repairs and beautification delays, came during a difficult time for budget-watchers.

Briefed on the slump in last month's state tax receipts, lawmakers May 1 fretted about a 5.6 percent increase over last April because the numbers fell $115 million short of budget benchmarks. State tax collections are up 5.5 percent over last year, with two months remaining in the fiscal year. Revenue Commissioner Alan LeBovidge said that, after the May numbers were in collections are known, it will become clear whether the April numbers were just a "cloudy day" or a "thunderstorm on the horizon."

Citing the April revenues, Senate Ways and Means chairman Steven Panagiotakos, who's currently piecing together the Senate budget, said, "That certainly makes it very difficult for us going forward."

Patrick says he'll sign MCAD bill

The back-and-forth over what part of government the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination will sit in, and who will sit on it, seemed to come to an end last week, more than two months after the Legislature had approved a different plan. A spokesman to Gov. Deval Patrick said he would sign the bill the Legislature passed, led by Sen. Dianne Wilkerson and Second Assistant House Majority Leader Byron Rushing; that bill rejected Patrick's efforts to gain control of the panel more quickly but, according to lawmakers, maintained the body's autonomy.

House, Senate agree to Constitutional Convention

Few who watch the building closely expect the State House to host a dramatic vote on the debate over same-sex marriage. But the House and Senate were to gather this week in the House chamber to begin the 2007-2008 Constitutional Convention, per an agreement between the House and Senate.

Asked about a vote on the marriage petition, same-sex marriage supporter House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi told reporters, "I don't expect it, but Terry Murray's the one that controls that … I don't expect it."

Fish and Game to be led by first woman

Mary Griffin of Hingham, a longtime state environmental official who previously worked as an assistant attorney general and private attorney, was named last week as the first woman to lead the state Department of Fish and Game. Griffin will move into the post from her current job as acting deputy commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection.